A major admission by Trump
By Ebrahim Beheshti
Staff writer
It has taken five years for former US president Donald Trump to come to terms with the fact that his policy of “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran has been ineffective. Since 2018, when Trump unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal with the 5+1 group (the US, Britian, France, Germany, China and Russia) and imposed sweeping sanctions on Tehran, it has become clear that this approach has not yielded the desired results.
Although other US officials had previously acknowledged the mistake of pulling out of the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, and the futility of the maximum pressure policy in changing Iran’s behavior and policies, Trump himself, the architect of these sanctions, has now admitted that there is no alternative to dialogue and agreement with Iran.
“Sure, I would do that,” the US presidential candidate, speaking to reporters Thursday in New York City, said when asked if he would make a deal with Iran. “We have to make a deal, because the consequences are impossible. We have to make a deal.”
These remarks coincided with the visit of an Iranian delegation, led by the President Masoud Pezeshkian, to New York to attend the UN General Assembly meeting. Pezeshkian, in announcing his government’s stance, expressed readiness to engage in nuclear talks to lift sanctions, while also challenging the unconstructive positions of the US and Europeans regarding the nuclear deal.
Upon his return from New York, Pezeshkian stated, “European leaders agreed with us on the US’s breach of the JCPOA and tearing it up. After the necessary explanations, it was decided to follow up on the issue of the sanctions in specialized sessions.”
Page 8